Truth in Taxation, Part 3

by Coy Holcombe.

Good Monday morning! I hope everyone had a great weekend. Last week, we started our discussion about truth in taxation. Today, I want to continue with a truth in taxation overview of the sequence of events that school districts must follow. The Truth in Taxation guidelines published by the state have very specific instructions on the order that items must be done. Overall, the following describes the order that a school district follows:

calculate the effective tax rate and rollback tax rate

decide how much revenue the district needs and calculate the rate required to raise that amount

concurrently post a budget summary on its website and publish a notice on the budget and proposed tax rate

hold a hearing on the budget and proposed tax rate

adopt a budget and then adopt the tax rate (there are provisions now that allow for the tax rate to be adopted before the budget – Eustace ISD will adopt a budget and then a tax rate)

administer a rollback election if the adopted rate exceeds the rollback rate (EISD will not have a rollback election)

(2010 Truth-in-Taxation Guide, p.3)

We will have several more discussion about truth in taxation as the steps above are completed.